I thought about my apprenticeship instructor, Mike, and his cautionary words in my first class: “Before you touch anything, get out your circuit tester and check for voltage. Do not trust your own mother if she tells you that a circuit is dead.”

Fast forward six years and I am standing on a ladder in the dining room of my parents’ home replacing their overhead light fixture.

The dimmer switch is off and I am twisting the last wire splice when my mother said, ”Let me turn on the light so you don’t have to work in the dark.”

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12 comments for “Friday Fictioneers: Is It Safe?”

Priceless! I love it. 😀 My boyfriend had the wire for the dishwasher – a new one was coming – sort of hanging out. I was helping out and going to sweep for him and he said oh that’s not on so don’t worry. Then I got close to the thing, accidentally bumped it with the broom and POW, sparks and a frightened little me. Guess it wasn’t off.

Great story, thanks for sharing (sounds like something my mom would do). Did it hurt a lot?

That’s a WONDERFUL story and I laughed and laughed. My son’s early career was as an electrician (now he’s a middle school math teacher). “Let me give you some light” might be something I’d say, wanting to be helpful. Mostly, now, I keep my mouth shut and go-fer.

Funny! I so remember what seemed like overkill on the MANY electrical safety briefings in my technical training as a propulsion specialist. “Don’t even believe you own mother” was a constant refrain. Pull, tag, and collar circuit breakers or get someone killed. KILLED! Check the collar, check the tag, check the collar again. Yep, that is something that sticks with a person. Excellent take on the prompt, Allan.